Climate Change

          This week’s assignment is to look into climate change and check into the evidence that supports climate change and the skepticism of it. Personally, I've heard quite a bit about this in many AP classes during High School, and remember there being quite the lengthy discussion about it…many times! The scariest thing I remember from those talks had to do with many of the glaciers and polar ice caps melting, which in turn raises the sea level…which of course then takes away lots of land…and of course lives. Okay, now onto the actual research!

            Probably the most user friendly page (in my opinion), was the EPA site here. It very quickly got to the point that the Earth is warming, and that Earth’s average temperature has risen by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, and is (of course) projected to rise another 2 to 11.5 degrees over the next hundred years. That little tidbit was a bit scary! One to two degrees is pretty nasty already…but possibly a 10+ increase…yeah a little frightening.  They went on to explain that these temperature changes have also been accompanied by changes in the weather and climate such as increases in rainfall, droughts, and intense rains as well as severe heat waves… all out of the norm for the places in which they occur or just more severe.

            It was really no surprise to find that humans are the largest contributor for the recent climate changes. I mean…we do pollute the Earth with tons of carbon dioxide, and the majority of greenhouse cases that come from the burning of fossil fuels…you know that stuff we like to burn all of the time to power things! Add in some deforestation, numerous industrial processes, and agricultural practices that all emit gases into the atmosphere…and well…we can safely say humans are the fault.  But why does putting all of this stuff in the air make us at fault? Well…these greenhouse gases act like a barrier (the EPA used a more comfy term…blanket) around the Earth. This traps energy in the atmosphere which causes it to warm. It is more commonly called the greenhouse effect.

            Many of those same things I learned in my AP classes in High School connected here. Climate change can impact almost every angle in our society. It can affect our water supplies, how we get our food, power and transportation etc etc etc. The list really goes on and on. I literally could go on and on with just how many things it could change around the world. But I already mentioned some scary ways it could above. If that isn't enough to scare anyone (the whole polar icecaps and the flooding of many coastal areas) I mean…if it does reach that 10+ degree mark…more skin cancer and other numerous health issues will be more prevalent.

            While I found the EPA site the most informative in quick to the point information. The Yale site, here, was quite interesting in pointing out just how many people believed that climate change/global warming was happening and how many of those thought it was mainly due to humans. Was a definite eye opener. I at first made some interesting joking comments about common sense…but…perhaps, the people in these studies just never learned or cared about the subject matter. I may not have been had many of my teachers growing up felt strong enough about it to make sure we knew the facts. This leads into the next topic.

            Ahhh, the fun part. We hear the other side here. Now I am a bit biased, as I've stated I grew up learning about global warming and climate change from teachers from elementary school through High School…and now my Environmental Science class. The main argument the skeptics point out boil down to not enough sufficient evidence to 100% confirm that it is a crisis. It claims that small changes in the climate could just as well be natural as they could from human interference from our creation of greenhouse gases. I think a majority of the skepticism exists because if they were to give in to the idea that it did exist that many policies would have to be created and enforced that would change (especially from an economic point of view) many aspects of American life.

            As for where I see the world in fifty years if we continue our path and do nothing to slow the rise of CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Well, I do see more of the polar ice caps melting…as well as ancient glaciers disappearing. I also see these things causing the ocean level to rise a bit which may make some islands and coastal areas slowly disappear. Will it be as extreme as that? No idea…but something tells me if nothing is done things will slowly get worse and the world will not be a better place.